#NYIAS: Porsche To Intensify Focus On Non Diesel Powertrains

Embracing efficiency is simply the right thing to do. If Porsche loyalists can swallow SUVs as being real Porsches, then a 4 cylinder should be no big deal. If it is a good engine it is a good engine.

Beyond that...Hybridization is an infinitely better path than going with extremely complicated diesel engines. To me, Porsche and diesel is oxymoronic.

On a wider scale...Assuming VWAG can weather the coming financial storm, it definitely needs to regroup. While I know that diesel is important to Europe, VWAG should go diesel free in the USA and as vehicles come up for replacement, do so with entirely new styling that shares nothing with the current tarnished products, give them entirely new names, and have them hybridized across the entire range.

Porsche, VW, diesel scandal, diesels reputation ruined ...no surprise here!

Firstly, Porsche has always had an intense focus on non-diesel powertrains. Where I live, they offered only one diesel engine in the Cayenne, and only one in the Macan (before Dieselgate stopped sales), while the same models enjoyed multiple gasoline-powered engine options, and the rest of Porsche's lineup had only gasoline-powered engine options.

Secondly, I don't buy into the "gasoline good, diesel bad" mindset. Does that mean BMW's and Mercedes' diesel offerings have suddenly become crap, coming from lying, deceiving companies? (BTW, that's a pertinent question, not a rhetorical one.) I believe we're REALLY talking about a company, VW, who got caught in dirty dealings with respect to diesel engines (that's how Dieselgate started, but extended to other areas like falsified fuel economy and emissions numbers in gasoline vehicles, too), and which forced a stop-sale of diesel products to all companies under the VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) umbrella, and that includes Porsche. Porsche CAN'T sell diesels now, and won't until some unspecified date. Today, diesels are synonymous with dirty air in the minds of many consumers, so it makes good *marketing* sense for Porsche to follow the path of least resistance, and not try to fight that mindset, and choose instead to exploit it by on what they CAN sell: non-diesel powertrains.

Lastly, for what it's worth, when I was shopping for a new vehicle, I compared the Audi Q5's standard gasoline variant (2.0 Liter inline 4), their diesel (3.0L V6), and hybrid (2.0 liter gasoline inline 4), and discovered the most power AND the best fuel economy came from the diesel, and the diesel was cheaper than the hybrid. Yup, more power, better fuel economy, cheaper to buy, and cheaper to operate. That's why I picked my Q5 diesel over a Q5 hybrid. And according to Audi's numbers, most people see it that way, as their Q5 hybrid sales have always been and still are in the toilet, while Q5 diesel sales did well before Dieselgate shut them down. My only complaint about diesel is the emissions, as revealed by Dieselgate. I'll let you know how I feel about it after it gets revised due to the recall. If it retains its great fuel economy and low operating costs, I'll still see it as a winner over the gasoline powerplant and the gasoline-electric hybrid.

The "gasoline good /diesel bad" mindset is valid. To make diesel's clean and to provide appropriate performance requires much more technology than a gas engine.

And when diesel engines break--and they do--they are much more expensive to fix.